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The present invention generally relates to public switched telephone networks (PSTN""s)/voice-over-IP telephony and particularly to the application of the extension of scripts to interact with PSTN and IP telephones within the context of the same services.
Today script based services are available to program interactive voice response devices when communicating with the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Today IP networks are evolving and voice over IP telephony is being used for communication similar to that of PSTN networks. The general problem with this scenario is that there is no common bridge to manage services that involved both PSTN and IP end-points in the same connection.
For example, the IBM IVR platform Direct Talk (reference IBM Direct Talk for AIX, V2, R2: State Tables, Prompts and Voice Segments, SC33-1846, December 1998) provides the script language used for PSTN interaction. In the present invention the script needed for interacting with IP telephones was developed and uses the same script method as Direct Talk and can coexist.
Accordingly, the objects of the present invention are (among others) to circumvent the deficiencies in the prior art and affect the following objectives:
1. to extend the script to interact with PSTN and IP telephones within the context of the same services;
2. to share same service logic for both PSTN and IP media;
3. to conference participants on both PSTN and IP;
4. to store and forward information between the two media;
5. to play ON-HOLD media to with interface; and/or
6. to monitor information between the two media.
While these objectives should not be understood to limit the teachings of the present invention, in general these objectives are achieved by the disclosed invention that is discussed in the following sections.
Referencing FIG. 1, in the present invention scripts have been extended to interact with PSTN and IP telephones within the context of the same services. In, the present invention, the scalable PSTN gateway (104, 113, 123, 125) is a gateway that connects calls from a PC-based H.323 client application (102, 115) to the regular PSTN telephone system (105, 112, 122, 126). Inbound calls originating from the PSTN are connected through an IP connection (103, 114, 124) to a PC client application (102, 115). Outbound calls originating from a PC client application are sent through the gateway to the PSTN destination. In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 1, Voice Over Data (VOD) may provide an optional RISC-based solution for routing PSTN calls over a data network, allowing three types of voice connections:
1. PC-to-phone (100);
2. phone-to-PC (110); and/or
3. phone-to-phone (120).
The gateway is scalable and has been reduced to practice to support up to 96 simultaneous calls, although any number is potentially realizable.
The following detailed discussion may serve as a guide for the VOD CS-Voice Over Data Custom Server and the SPN256 Port Resource Control Custom Server for VOD (SPRC). These APIs developed for the VOD Custom Server serve as extensions to the DT (IBM""s Direct Talk Interactive Voice Response System), i.e., they receive commands from the DT. The Voice over Data custom server along with the DT form the basis of the scalabable PSTN Gateway. This Gateway is a multi-service system and server that runs on the AIX operating system. While this system uses the AIX operating system, it is not limited to this and can be implemented on another operating system. The multi-service system connects to the PSTN network. The multi-service system can also work without a telephone call. In addition, the multi-service system can service and IP call independently.
The set of exemplary state table APIs documented herein are designed as a DT interface to the actual custom server functions which support a gateway capable of sending and receiving voice between a telephone PSTN interface card and the IP (Internet Protocol) network. Calls are generally controlled utilizing the H.323 standard. The SPRC is responsible for coordinating the SCBus connections between the DTQA (Direct Talk Quad Adapter) and the SPN256, managing resources of the SPN256 cards, allocating and deallocating them to the application. It is integrated with the DT Timeslot Manager, which uses Connection Servers to send low-level commands to the adapters sharing the SCBus (cable/logic standard for connecting time division multiplexed voice channels).
The operation of these APIs is designed especially for the requirements of the DT system, and are limited by its restrictions.
The VOD Custom Server is one component of a larger, more complex system and, in order to be able to use the VOD Custom Server, it is necessary to understand the DT with all its built-in components as well as other custom servers, such as Time Slot Manager, and VOD Gate Custom Server.
Overall the present invention can in some exemplary embodiments provide one or more of the following advantages over the prior art. For example the IBM IVR platform Direct Talk (reference IBM Direct Talk for AIX, V2, R2: State Tables, Prompts and Voice Segments, SC33-1846, December 1998) provides the script language used for PSTN interaction. In the present invention, the script needed for interacting with IP telephones was developed and uses the same script method as Direct Talk and can coexist with this application. A description of those APIs follows.